Sydney welcomes first international flight after almost 600 days of restrictions: Reports

Amid declining cases of COVID-19, the Australian government lifted the bans on the international border on Monday, almost 600 days after COVID pandemic restrictions began. According to the latest orders issued by the Australian authorities, the new quarantine-free travel arrangements will allow people who are fully vaccinated and unvaccinated children under 12 to fly abroad. On Monday, the first international flight sparked an emotional scene at Sydney airport as people united after a very long gap.

A report by Sputnik cited the Australian airline Qantas stating, "Nearly 600 days after Australia closed its international borders, Qantas commercial passenger flights have taken to the skies to reconnect Australia to the rest of the world. QF12 from Los Angeles touched down in Sydney at 6.00 am today (19:00 GMT, Saturday) with no border or quarantine restrictions for incoming passengers who are fully vaccinated."

Meanwhile, today late in the evening, a flight from Sydney will leave for London through Darwin and the international flights will now connect Sydney, London, and Los Angeles in upcoming weeks. The airline authorities are likely to provide open-air travel facilities to various other locations as well. According to the latest air travel guidelines, all those passengers who have no symptoms of COVID and are fully vaccinated can freely travel to foreign destinations. However, the authorities have also exempted children from vaccination and senior citizens are also allowed to travel only after inoculation.

After Sydney received its first international flight, passengers who were returning to their homeland turned emotional as they met their loved ones for the first time in almost 600 days. It is necessary to mention that, among other countries, Australia has imposed some of the world's toughest border restrictions. Following that, all the state borders were banned and citizens were asked not to leave the country without a special permit.

COVID situation in Australia

COVID cases in Australia are on a decline. In the last 24 hours, New South Wales recorded 177 locally transmitted cases, which is its lowest COVID case number in three months. The total number of confirmed COVID cases reached 1,72,030, followed by 1743 total deaths. According to official data, the country has administered a total of 35,715,731 vaccine doses. More than 88% of people over age 16 have received the first dose of the COVID vaccine, while over 77% of the population has received the second dose of the COVID vaccine.

Image: Twitter/@Sydneyairport